Unseen Terror was a British extreme metal band formed by Mitch Dickinson (

Heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

) and

Shane Embury Shane Embury (born 27 November 1967) is a British bassist and a member of the grindcore and death metal band Napalm Death since 1987. Career Napalm Death While not a founding member, Embury is the longest standing member of the band, ha ...

(later of Napalm Death), and played extreme metal with a technical edge along with elements of hardcore punk.

Liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desc ...

of Earache Records' ''Human Error'' reissue Their most notable feat took place in March 1988, when they recorded tracks for John Peel's

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

program.

History

The band formed after the demise of Warhammer, which consisted of Wayne Aston, Mike Clarke, Mitch Dickinson and Shane Embury. Unseen Terror was named after Mitch Dickinson was listening to

Septic Death Septic Death was an American hardcore punk band active in the 1980s. The foursome from Boise, Idaho was a major influence for the development of grindcore, thrashcore and "speedcore". History Septic Death was formed in 1981 by Brian " Pushead ...

. The song "Terrorain" by Septic Death has the lyric "Unseen Death - Terrorain". The Chernobyl disaster was fresh in the minds of many at the time, and Dickinson thought of the term "Unseen Terror", as the radiation in the air around the area of the disaster was invisible. The band was founded in early 1986 by singer/guitarist Mitch Dickinson and Shane Embury. The duo wrote many songs together as a two piece band during mid 1986 - mid 1987. These tracks were recorded on to cassette during rehearsals. These rehearsal tapes were subsequently distributed on an international level via the tape trading network of the time. These tapes caught the attention of Digby Pearson who had recently founded

Earache Records Earache Records is a British independent record label, music publisher and management company founded by Digby Pearson in 1985, based in Nottingham, England, with offices in London and New York. The label helped to pioneer extreme metal by rel ...

. A few months into 1987 the band were invited to contribute two tracks to the compilation LP ''Diminished Responsibility'' (1987), and the group landed a record contract at Earache Records. Just after the recording the tracks for this compilation LP, the band recruited Pete Giles as their bass player. This line up did not last very long. Earache Records booked the recording studio for the recording of ''Human Error'' during a time when there were various difficulties occurring (both logistically and personally) for the band. These unchangeable dates in September 1987 for the recording ultimately meant that Dickinson and Embury had no choice but to fulfil the agreement with Earache as a 2 piece band. The original album back cover photographs were taken on location in Broseley, Shropshire, England (by Digby Pearson). After their debut album, Napalm Death drummer Mick Harris joined the band as singer. The band were invited by John Walters to a recording session for

BBC Radio One BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

. A one-off performance in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

with bassist Wayne Aston (Ex-Warhammer) took place prior to the recording of the session, but Wayne did not go on to appear on the Peel sessions recordings. The BBC session saw Mitch Dickinson and Mick Harris share vocal duties on different songs during the session. The Peel sessions were released as a limited 12" EP in the UK and a CD (with uncommissioned artwork) in the US. These original releases are now regarded as collectors items. After the BBC session, the band reverted to the original line up of Dickinson and Embury. This line up was bolstered in early 1989 by the addition of Carl Stokes (Cancer) who joined on bass guitar. This was to be the last line up of the band. The band finally broke up later that year. More recently, re-releases of the BBC session occurred on the Earache compilation ''Grind Madness at the BBC''. Unseen Terror are now regarded on a global level as a pioneering act in the field of extreme metal. Their music continues to attract new listeners in this digital age via YouTube and various streaming and downloading platforms.

Band members

Constant

* Mitch Dickinson - vocals, guitar (1986–1990) *

- drums (1987–1990)

Others

*Carl Stokes - bass (1989) *Wayne Aston - bass (1988) *Pete Giles - bass (1987) *Mick Harris - vocals (1988)

Discography

* Rehearsal demo tape (1987) * ''

Diminished Responsibility In criminal law, diminished responsibility (or diminished capacity) is a potential defense by excuse by which defendants argue that although they broke the law, they should not be held fully criminally liable for doing so, as their mental func ...

'' (Comp LP), 1987 * ''

Human Error Human error refers to something having been done that was " not intended by the actor; not desired by a set of rules or an external observer; or that led the task or system outside its acceptable limits".Senders, J.W. and Moray, N.P. (1991) Human ...

'' (Album,

, 1987) * '' Hardcore Holocaust'', 1989 * ''

Hardcore Holocaust II Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

'', 1989 * ''The Peel Sessions'' (12",

Strange Fruit Records Strange Fruit Records was an independent record label in the United Kingdom. The label, established by Clive Selwood and John Peel in 1986, was the primary distributor of BBC recordings, including Peel Sessions.Larkin, Colin (ed.) (1998) ''T ...

, 1989) * ''

21 Years of Alternative Radio One 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

'', 1989 * ''

Grindcrusher ''Grindcrusher'' is a CD/LP released by Earache Records in 1989, showcasing nine of the label's bands. It contained a number of pioneer grindcore and death metal groups such as Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower, Morbid Angel, Carcass and Repulsion. ...

'' (Compilation album, (

, 1990) * ''Human Error'' CD Reissue (with bonus tracks), 2001 * ''

Grind Madness at the BBC ''Grind Madness at the BBC: The Earache Peel Sessions'' is a 2009 compilation album released by Earache Records. The compilation is a three-disc set featuring old Peel Sessions from the early pioneers and forerunners of the English grindcore ...

'' (3 CD Compilation), 2010

References

Coverage in the book "Global Metal Music and Culture"Metal Underground

External links

Earache Records
{{Authority control Crossover (music) Heavy metal duos British musical trios English grindcore musical groups Earache Records artists